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Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer
Rudolph the Red Nost Reindeer
Possibly the most famous reindeer Rudolph was created by Robert L may in 1939. At the time he worked for a department store Montgomery Ward. Montgomery Ward had been selling children’s coloring books for several years and in 1939 had commissioned one of their employees to write a book to save on costs. In 1939 2.4 Million copies of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer were sold.
The story was loosely based on the story of the Ugly Duckling and also loosely based on May’s own life. As May wrote the story, in rhyming couplets he tested it on his 4 year old daughter who loved the story.
The story was commercially printed in 1947 and by 1948 an animated version of the story was shown in theatres. May’s brother in law Johnny Marks, a songwriter, wrote the lyrics and tune for the song and it was recorded in 1949 by Gene Autry. The song sold 2 million copies, and was the second highest selling song of all time, to Bing Crosby’s White Christmas. In 1964 Rudolph made it onto the televisions screens, Narrated by Burl Ives.
